United States 1851 1c Blue Benjamin Franklin, Type IV

United States · 1851 · 1c

This definitive stamp features a right-facing portrait of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The design is based on a bust by French sculptor Jean-Jacques Caffieri. This specific issue, known as Type IV, is distinguished by recut inner lines that create nearly complete scrolls at the top and bottom of the design.

Issued as part of the 1851-1857 series, this was one of the first U.S. stamps to be issued imperforate, requiring clerks or users to cut them from the sheet with scissors. It primarily paid the carrier fee or the rate for printed circulars.